Machine for building tire flaps



May 10, 1932. H. M. BRowN MACHINE FOR BUILDING TIRE FLAPS 2 Sheets-SheetFiled Aug. 6, 1928 In/vanter,

Harold N.Broum May 10, 1932. H. M. BROWN MACHINE FOR BUILDING TIRE FLAPSFiled-`g. 6, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet .2

Patented May 10, 1932 UNIT-ED y STATES *PATENTA oFFlcjE ,j

HAROLD M. BROWN, OF AKRON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE GOODYEAR TIRE,& RUBBERi COMPANY, OF AKRON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OIE OHIO 3' MAQHINE FORBUILDING FLAPS lAppucauon filed August e, i928. serial N0.2,97,794.

This invention relates to machines for laminating fabrics and 1t hasparticular relation to an apparatus for and a method of assembling andsimultaneously forminglaminated fabric strips into an elongate band owhich shall be especially applicable for manufacturing tire flaps foremployment in pneumatic tire casings. e An object of the inventionis toprovide an improved apparatus andk method for prefor'ming plies offabric transversely and longitudinally and stitching the plies inlaminated relation.

' According to this invention, which consti- ,1 tutes an improvementover that described and contour so that each ply is pre-formedprogressively, and thereafter stitched to an adjacent ply. Followingthis operation, the

bottom ply, which is preferably wider than the others, is foldedlaterally over the edges of the remaining plies, whereupon the assembledstructure is vulcanized. Y

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may now be hadtothe accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification, ofwhich;

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a machine constructed accordingto one embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is an end view of the machine shown by Figure 1, and taken inthe direction indicated by the arrow A;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of one of the preforming shoes, takensubstantially along the line III- III of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the same shoe butftaken,substantially` along the line IV-IV, and i Figure 5 is still anothercross-sectional view of the shoe, takensubstantially along the lineV-V.'

l :Referring'to Figure 2, a motor 10''has r`a .3

shaft'11`upon the end. of which is keyed a sprocket 12.l Achain 13,trained about the 'sprocket 12, also is trained about a sprocket whichis rigidly secured to an outer end of a shaft 16.*'The latter isrotatably sup-` ported in bearings V1S and 20 forming a part of brackets23 and 24, respectively, which are secured to upright anglebars 26 and27 by rivets 28. These angle bars form part `of a frame structure, inwhich four of such bars are connected at their lower ends byhorizontally disposed angle bars 30, riveted thereto, as indicated at31, and bolted tothe floor, as indicated at 32. Y

The 'shaft 16, intermediate the bearings 18-` and 20, supports a groovedroller 35 rigidly secured thereon, and at its outer end adjacent thebea-ring has keyed thereto a pinion 37. This pinion meshes with a pinion39, fastened on a shaft 41 disposed in bearings 42 and 43l which arearrangedin the brackets 23 and24, respectively, directly above thebearings 18 and 20. Intermediate its ends, the latter shaft supports aroller 45, which has an outer peripheral contour complementary toandvadapted to roll Within the groove of the roller on the shaft 16. Onits end adjacent the Vbearing 43, the shaft 41 has a sprocket 47,

over which a chain 49 that extends over a second sprocket 50 is trained.The latter is its opposite end the shaft 52 hastay sprocket 60 rigidlysecured thereon, over which is trained a chain 62.

The latter chain is trained over a sprocket 63 rigidly secured to ashaft 65 j ournalledpink;

the frame 57 thence between this sprocket and a sprocket 67 keyed to ashaft 69 supported by the frame 57 directly above the shaft 65, over thelatter sprocket, and an idling sprocket 75 keyed to a shaft 73journalled in the frame, and thereafter over a relatively large sprocket77 which is rigidly secured on a shaft 78 also journalled in the frame.From the latter sprocket, the chain extends under and overa pair ofsprockets 82 and 86, respectively, which are disposed above thesprockets 63 and 67, and are keyed respectively to shafts 83 and 87journalled in vthe vframe,thereafterlover an idling sprocket 91 keyed toa shaft 94, thence under and .over sprockets 96 and 99 keyedto shafts 97and 102 respectively, that are journalled Vin a bracket 114 projectingfrom an upper corner of the frame 57 and thereafter' from the lattersprocket to the sprocket ,50,v y

The shafts 65, 69, 83, 87, 7 and 102 are provided, respectively, `withrollers 66,71, 84 189, 98 and 103,'rigidlysecured thereon, and which aredisposed on the side of the frame 57 opposite the aforesaid sprockets.VOn the -end of the shaft 7 8 opposite the sprocket'77,

a large drum 80 rigidly secured thereon has 4a trapezoidally groovedperiphery, as shown vby Figures 2 and 5, which groove is substantiallythe shape of la flap employed between kthe inner tube ofatire and thebead portions Aof the latter.

Bearing brackets 1.10, 111, 112, 113 and the aforesaid bracket 114,secured in -spaced relation about the edgesrof the frame 57 rotatablysupport shafts 117, 118, 119,y 120 and 121, respectively, while suchshafts in. turn respectively support rolls ofifabric 124, 125, 126, 127and 128.

Other shafts 135, 136, 137, 138 and 139, disposed in substantiallyequally spaced relation about the drum 80 and juxtaposed with respect tothe rolls 124, 125, 126, 127 and 128, respectively, are secured in theframe 57, and yrotatablysupport rollers 145, 146, 147 148 vand 149,respectively. I These shaftsalso rotatably support arms 150, 151, 152,153 and 154, respectively, which at their outer ends are provided withWooden shoes 165, 166, 167, 168 and 169, the contour of which varies, asbest shown by Figures 3, 4 and 5, from substantially a plane or flatsurface to one vcomplementary to and adapted to project within thegroove in the drum V80. These .shoes are resiliently maintained againstthe drum by springs 160 that at one end engage Vthe arms and at theirother ends brackets 161, which are secured to the frame 57 by stud boltsv162.

A resilient roller V164, such as one composed of soft rubber, isrotatably 'mounted on a lshaft 163 supported by the frame 57, andisdisposed adjacent the drum 80, on the side thereof adjacent. therollers 35 and 45.. This roller has a peripheral lcontour complementaryto the groove in the drum 80, and is adapted normally to coacttherewith.

In operation of the above described mechanism, fabric on the roll 124,which preferably is relatively wide canton iannel, is conducted over theroller 145, thence between the slice 165 and is stitched initially tothe grooved periphery of the drum 80. Similarly, rubberized fabric fromthe roll 125 is trained over the roller 66, reversely over the roller7l, over the roller 146, and thence between the drum and the shoe 166mounted on the arm 151. Fabric from the roll 126 is fed directly. underthe roller 147 to aposition be.- tween the drum and the shoe 167 mountedon the armV 152. From the roll 127, fabric is lfed overthe rollers 89and 84 and thence over the roller 148 between the shoe 168 mounted onthe arm 153 and the drum, Whereas fabric from vthe roll 128 is fedoverthe rollers 103 and 98 and thence vover the roller 149 to a positionbetween the drum and the shoe 169 mounted on the a-rm154.

Energizationf of the motor 10 drives the rollers 35, 45, the groovedWheel 80, and the .rollers 66, 71, 84, 89, 98 and 103. The fabrics whichhave initially been fed over the drum 80 between the roller 164 and suchdrum and between the rollers 35 and 45, are drawn by frictional contactof the last two mentionedv tom ply of flannel which is conducted fromthe roller 124, is folded about the edge p0rtions of the other plies bya conventional folding device indicated at 170, Whereafter l the unitarystrip thus formed is severed into suitable lengths and vulcanized intoannular form. Preferably in this construction, the movement of thepliesresults largely from the pull exerted thereon by the rollers 35 and 45,and hence each ply is frictionally drawn over its respective shoe. Thetensioning of the plies as they are vdrawn over the shoes prevents theforming of .any Wrinkles such as might otherwise occur, because of thefrictional engagement of the shoestwith the plies which tends toseparate the cords Within the fabric. Y

From the foregoingdescription it is apparent that a. mechanism has beenprovided for separately treating plies of fabric under sufficienttension that they are progressively pre-formed both transversely 'andlongitudinally. Moreover, by assembling the so preformed plies over adrumhaving a peripheral contour similar to the cross-sectional contourof the individual plies, the assembly is so formed that in itssubsequent use in the capacity of tire flaps, it is practicallyunaffected by the stresses commonly set up in such flaps. Such articlesof trade may be rapidly and inexpensively manufactured in this manner.

Although I have illustrated only one form which the invention mayassume, and have described in detail only a single application thereof,it Will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention isnot so limited, but that various modifications may be made thereinWithout departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope ofthe appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. An apparatus for assembling. multi-ply material comprising means forsupplying a plurality of strips of material, individual means forstitching each strip upon an adjacent strip, such means comprisingl aresiliently pressed shoe having a surface varying progressively fromsubstantially flat to a predetermined contour.

2. An apparatus for assembling multi-ply material comprising means forsupplying a plurality of strips of material, and resiliently pivotedshoes adapted to stitch the strips together, such shoes having aprogressively varying contour in order to first pre-form the strips.

3. An apparatus for assembling multi-ply materials comprising a frame,means for rotatably supporting a plurality of rolls of fabric on theframe, a grooved drum rotatably supported on the frame, and means forsupplying the `fabric from the rolls to the drum simultaneously atperipherally spaced points with respect to the latter, said meansincluding resilient shoes supported on the frame, each of which has aface adapted to press a layer of fabric into the groove of the drum anda progressively varying contour, in order first to preform the fabricbefore it is applied to the drum.

4:. An apparatus for assembling multi-ply materials comprising a frame,means for rotatably supporting a plurality of rolls of fabric on theframe, a grooved drum rotatably supported on the frame, and means forsupplying the fabric from the rolls to the drum simultaneously but atperipherally spaced points with respect to the latter, said meansincluding resilient pivoted shoes supported on the frame, each of whichshoes has a face adapted to press a layer of fabric into the groove ofthe drum and a progressively varying contour, in order rst to preformthe fabric before it is applied to the drum.

5. An apparatus for assembling multi-ply materials comprising a frame,means for rotatably supporting a plurality of rolls of fabric on theframe, a grooved drum rotatably supported on the frame, resilient

